The Past & Present Future
by ellenemi
Summary: In 2021 one week after the infamous Jampony Siege, Max was kidnapped by a group of unknown assailants. Three years later she returns... MA
1. Part 1: The Return

**AN:** Flashback's are represented in italics

**The Past & Present Future**

By EMI

**Part 1: The Return**

She moved like water, smooth and fluid, silent and deadly. One would never guess that she hadn't been outside the facility for three years. They would never know that each time the guards ventured into her cell, that they risked their very lives simply to deliver her food. She never spoke; hadn't since she'd been brought there, beaten and bruised with a dead look to her dark eye's, and was limply tossed into a corner of the 10x10 steel reinforced cell.

For the first six months of her incarceration each time her cell door was opened, she'd attempted escape, had lost count in fact of the numerous necks she'd snapped.

Twice she'd made it to the courtyard, before being recaptured and twice she'd been beaten and starved into unconsciousness. In the end she'd given up attempting to escape, instead she used her time to watch the guards, and learn their weaknesses, their strengths and to train. To sculpt her already strong body into a piece of steel, as strong and hard as the walls that enclosed her.

In her small cell she ran through every kataa that she knew, before beginning again. This had been her routine for the last two and half years; Lydecker would have been proud of his soldier.

_**The attack had been unexpected; one minute Max had been telling Logan the truth about her relationship with Alec. **_

_**The two men had stood facing each other with her in the middle. A look of resignation and hurt was etched across Alec's features, whilst Logan had briefly looked elated, until the rest of what she was saying had sunk in. **_

**_The smash of breaking glass had destroyed the painful moment; as twelve armoured individuals had crashed through the windows of the house, spraying the room with bullet's and glass._**

_**The unexpectedness of the attack had caught the two transgenics off guard, and that nanosecond of hesitation cost them dearly.**_

The cell door swung open and a young man sauntered in, with a lascivious look upon his swarthy face. She paused in her movements, her kataa momentarily forgotten as she gazed silently at her visitor. He was tall, at least 6ft and well muscled beneath his fatigues. Brilliant blue eye's blazed out from a handsome face, and topped off by a shock of jet black hair. She quirked an eyebrow at his presence in her cell.

"I hope you're as good as you look slut; now take off your clothes and spread your legs," he snarled as he began unbuckling his belt.

"_**I'm your breeding partner," he'd said "we're supposed to copulate every night until you get pregnant" he'd flickered his green eye's briefly over her body, and a flash of momentary heat could be seen hiding beneath their shadowed depths "Now take of your clothes".**_

For a brief moment she was struck by a flash of dejavu, and an intense longing for the smiling man her breeding partner had become. She watched in an unemotional silence as the man stripped, until her stood naked and erect before her.

"I told you to strip, whore."

He advanced on her, but she stood her ground, not a single flicker of the fear she was feeling, graced her features.

The backhanded blow across her face was not unexpected, and neither was the trickle of blood that flowed from her split lip, as she continued to stare blankly at her would-be rapist.

"You don't want to make this easy on yourself." He said with a curl of lips, "Well that's fine by me." His face lowered towards hers and her sensitive nose, caught the scent of day old alcohol and cigarettes on his breath, "I prefer it when my women scream anyway," he sneered as he ripped the collar of her T-Shirt.

Her hand shot forward, and fingers jabbed him in the throat, crushing his windpipe in an instant. Her bare left foot shattered his kneecap, sending him to the floor with a muffled scream, that was quickly silenced by the sound of his own neck snapping. And for the first time in three long years, Max allowed herself to smile.

_**They'd had taser's ready as soon as they crashed through the large picture window... **_

_**As the pair of them had taken up a fighting stance, Logan had hedged his way towards his des, but before he was able to retrieve his gun from it's draw a gunshot rang out, and a single bullet pierced his brain. **_

_**Max only had time to scream his name, before she watched Alec being taken down, as a mere half a second later they came for her and she sank into a bottomless pit of blackness.**_

**_

* * *

_**

As soon as they'd heard the screams of their dying comrades, the guards had come barrelling through the detention block's door's, only to find her waiting for them. The only mercy they received were the quick deaths she granted them, as she made her escape. By the time she reached the courtyard, the alarms were already sounding, as soldiers rushed out to stop her. They didn't stand a chance.

Spending three years alone in a cell, had given Max time to learn about herself, to discover the 'animal' inside as it were. In consequence her already acute senses were heightened further, making it possible for her to sense the bullet that was destined for the back of her head.

Stepping quickly to the side, the bullet instead splattered the brains of the guard that was running towards her, all over her torn clothing and coating her blank face with his fluids. Grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat, she blurred towards his motionless body and grabbed up his semi-automatic…

_**She'd opened her eyes to find herself in what would soon become her new 'home.' Gingerly she touched her fingers to her brow; and felt her own already dried blood. **_

_**A dull pain in her side told her of, her broken ribs and scorched flesh from the taser burns. **_

**_Her mind quickly flashed her images of Logan's death, and of Alec's stunned face as he to, had been shot. _**

_**At that a small sob, slipped past her dry, cracked and swollen lips as she allowed the pain in her heart, and the pain of her body to send her back into oblivion's warm embrace.**_

What she left behind her, was a tribute to Lydecker and his training. And for once in her life, Max was actually grateful to the cold-bloodied old devil. As gracefully she blurred across the open field and into the woods just as an explosion from behind her scattered the birds from their nests, and the scent of charred flesh drifted on the breeze; and the screams of agony filled the air.

Not once did she look back. Eyes facing forward, the only thought in Max's mind was to find the others; to return home.

* * *

For six days she'd travelled, keeping to the words and edges of civilisation. Only heading into any of the numerous James-towns that she'd passed, in order to steal fresh clothes and food, before moving on. 

She never slept; hadn't in fact since she'd remembered waking in her cell. But now the exhaustation and lethargy she'd been fighting since her escape was starting to take it's toll on her fragile body. But she forced herself forward; commanding her feet to continue moving, and her eyes to remain open. She couldn't afford to rest, at least not yet.

**_The second time she'd drifted back to consciousness, she found herself looking at the world through a haze of green liquid and glass. Blinking her eyes she tried to turn her head; to move her body. Only to discover that tubes were connected to her battered body and a breathing mask was covering her mouth. The full horror of what was happening to her, hit her; the instant the figure of a woman came into view on the other side of the glass... _**

**_The grinning face of a hideously deformed Director Renfro was the last thing she saw, before the fluid around her began to bubble; and the pressure from the tubes felt as though it was sucking away he very essence. _**

_**Her head swimming and drowsy with the drugs that had been pumped into her body; sent her back to the blackness.**_

For the first time in years, Max found herself across the street from Terminal City. Huddled in the shadows of a building nearby; she watched as the inhabitants of TC went about their daily business.

The sector police no longer guarding the gates; Transgenics were freely coming and going; something that in heart she thought she'd never see.

But she still hadn't seen the person she'd been waiting for.

Movement to her left caught her eye; as she watched a female Transgenic unlocking the doors of a café'. Zooming in with her eyes, Max realised she knew her. It had been a while, and her hair had grown longer than the last time she'd seen her; but there was no mistaking her, no way Max could ever forget Gem.

Moving silently out of the shadows; she slowly made he way towards the other Transgenic.

Gem was just raising the shutters on the Terminal City diner, when a small sound from behind her made her turn. Standing in front of her wearing an oversized sweatshirt and ragged jeans; with her matted dark hair hanging past her waist, and a look of pure exhaustation on her grime covered face. Gem found herself looking into the dark eyes of a ghost from the past.

"Max", she whispered.

Willing her vocal chords to start working again, Max asked "Alec. Where's Alec?", but what came out was nothing more than a strangled moan as her unused larynx refused to work; and tears of frustration and exhaustion began to fall, just as fatigue and hunger finally caught up with her, and she collapsed on the street.


	2. Part 2: Memory Games

**AN:** Flashback's are represented in italics

**Part 2: Memory Games**

_He lay there for a moment in shock. Max's scream still ringing in his ears. He could feel his blood seeping through his shirt._

_Rolling over on to his chest, he groaned in agony as the sudden movement alerted him to the bullet that was lodged in his thigh. Pushing the pain to back of his mind, he braced his hands against the floor and pushed himself unsteadily to his feet. And for the first time his conscious mind took in the wreckage around him._

_Bullets riddled the walls, the floor, everything._

_And where there were bullets, there was blood. It was everywhere._

_There was a pool of blood slowly seeping from behind Logan's desk. Gingerly Alec shuffled his way towards it, to check on the other man._

_Instead he found himself looking into the blank gaze of Logan's eyes. Or at least he would have if the bullet that had killed him hadn't blown away his left eye as it made its way towards the man's brain, taking pieces of broken lens along with it._

_A sudden bout of nauseousness overtook him, and Alec doubled over and vomited beside the desk; accidentally knocking the vid-link to the floor as he did so. Before passing out, as his mind shut down._

_The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by a group of frantic Terminal medics._

"_**C'mon, where's that damn clamp?"**_

"_**I'm going to have to dig that bullet out of his thigh."**_

"_**Damn it! It's in too deep."**_

_Blearily he blinked his eyes, and gazed down the length of his battered and bloodied body. Watching as his body pumped blood out of his body like a fountain. Movement to his right caught his eye. As an iridescent figure moved closer. Slipping in between the frantically working medic's like water. None of them giving any indication that she was there._

_Long dark hair fell about her shoulders in waves, as she brushed cool finger tips against his fevered brow._

"_Rachel?" he choked as blood bubbled from his mouth._

"_Sh. Simon."_

_His head began to pound, and he was beginning to find it difficult to hear the activity around him. He felt numb. "Rachel?" he asked again. Confused._

"_Sh. It's okay, 494"._

"_**Damn it! He's going into shock."**_

"_**Get the crash cart ready."**_

_A part of him knew she was just a hallucination, but he didn't care. He wanted to hold her in his arms again. Breathe in her sweet honeysuckle scent._

"_Not yet." She smiled, as she leant down and pressed her soft lips to his brow. "Not yet, pretty boy" her voice changed suddenly, "You need to come find me, so I can kick your ass."_

"_Max?"_

"_Alec. You can't die yet, you idiot."_

"_Max?" _

_Smiling down at him, her chocolate eyes filled with mirth. "C'mon, you ass." She said stepping away from him. Her image beginning to dissipate. "Come find me"._

"_Max", he called after her._

"_**Shit he's seizing".**_

"_**Hold him down. C'mon. C'mon. Hurry."**_

"_Maaxxx", Alec screamed as he began to drown in his own blood._

He jerked bolt up right in bed. The sweat soaked sheets bunched around his waist. For a moment, he was confused as to where he was. But the confusion only lasted for an instant. Swinging his legs out of bed, he silently moved around the darkened room, picking up his clothes from where they'd been carelessly tossed earlier that evening. A soft sigh came from the sleeping blonde in the bed. For a moment Alec froze, as he waited for her to settle down.

Twenty minutes later he was standing beneath the scalding spray of his own motels shower. Leaning his forehead against the cool tile, he finally began to calm down, as his heart rate began to ease.

The ringing of his cell-phone reached his ears, just as switched off the shower. Stepping out of the cubicle, he snagged a towel off the rail and wrapped it around his waist, as he padded his way into the bedroom.

Picking his jacket up from off the bed, he pulled the still ringing cell from its pocket. "Yeah" he mumbled into the receiver.

"Alec. Alec come home now." The agitated voice of Joshua rushed.

"Whoa, slow down buddy."

"No, no, no middle fella' has to come home now", that caught Alec's attention. Joshua hadn't called him middle fella' since he'd woken up in TC's infirmary two weeks after Max's abduction.

"What's up Josh. What's happened?"

"Max. Max back-", the phone slipped from between shaking fingers and bounced softly on the carpet "-little fella's come home", the tinny voice of Joshua said.

* * *

She fought like a wild cat. A woman possessed. As bodies flew across the room, scattering trays of medical equipment across the floor. 

"For God sake, grab her arms and strap her down!"

"_**Strap the fucking bitch down."**_

"We're trying."

"_**Tie her goddamn feet."**_

"Get ready to administer the sedative."

"_**Get the sedative ready."**_

Panic and fear had flooded her system the second she smelt the stringent scent of antiseptic. With panic clouding her mind, and adrenaline surging through her body, she was unable to distinguish between what was real, and what was memory.

Pulling her wrist free of its leather restraint, Max put everything she had into her fist, as she punched the advancing medic in the face; sending him sprawling to the floor. Kicking out at another, she jumped from the hospital bed, grabbed up the fallen syringe and slammed it into the neck of the female medic.

A pair of large hands wrapped around her chest from behind. She felt a sharp pinch to the side of her neck. As she heard herself yelp in surprise, a familiar sounding voice said, "Sorry lil' fella", and then she was falling, tumbling end over end into the swirling horizon, as strong arms held her close.

* * *

At the Los Angeles airport Alec waited for the plane, that was to take him back to Seattle. Back to his past. Back to Max. 

5


End file.
